The skills required to keep them ahead, or at the very least just a step behind in this industry, are specialist skills. They need programmers that speak in languages we haven’t even heard about.
Such a programmer is normally below the age of 30 and certainly doesn’t do the suit and tie thing.
They would also most likely be averse to authority and as the FBI are discovering, they most likely smoke pot.
So where does that leave the FBI’s HR department? Between a rock and hard place I’d say.
And in South Africa it’s no different. We need our youth. We need the specialist skills they bring.
We need their attitudes and their approach to business, but oftentimes we have no means of having them fit into the corporate mould. So what should we do? Continue to bang our heads against the wall wailing about the ingratitude and sense of entitlement, or should we simply buckle down and find ways to make our organisations attractive to those whose skills we wish to attract?
To find out more about generational theory and ways to develop in your role as manager and even specifically about managing the youth, contact us on 021 839 3021 or via email.
© Debbie Engelbrecht
Debbie Engelbrecht is the CEO of Staff Training, established in 2001. She is a soft skills facilitator and management coach and strives to enthuse, assist and empower her fellow South Africans wherever she has the skill to do so.